Shloka 17

Damayantī’s Recognition by the Piplū Mark and Her Return to Vidarbha

Devanagari script

अनागा येन निकृतस्त्वमनहों जनाधिप । क्रोधादसूययित्वा तं रक्षा मे भवत: कृता,“नरेश्वरर आप छल-कपदटद्वारा सताये जानेयोग्य नहीं थे, तो भी जिसने बिना किसी अपराधके आपके साथ कपटका व्यवहार किया है, उसीके प्रति क्रोधसे दोषदृष्टि रखकर मैंने आपकी रक्षा की है

Transliteration

Bṛhadaśva uvāca: anāgā yena nikṛtas tvam anaho janādhipa | krodhād asūyayitvā taṃ rakṣā me bhavataḥ kṛtā ||

Translation

Bṛhadaśva berkata: “Wahai penghulu manusia, meskipun tuanku tidak bersalah dan tidak patut diganggu, orang yang memperdaya tuanku tanpa sebarang kesalahan di pihak tuanku itulah yang menjadi sasaran kemarahanku dan celaanku; didorong oleh amarah itu, aku bertindak untuk melindungi tuanku.”

Word by Word

अनागाःblameless, guiltless

येनby whom

निकृतःdeceived, wronged (having been tricked)

त्वम्you

अनहोsinless, faultless

जनाधिपO lord of men (king)

क्रोधात्from anger, out of anger

असूययित्वाhaving shown envy/ill-will, having censured

तम्him

रक्षाprotection

मेof me, my

भवतःof you (honorific)

कृताwas done, has been made

Speaker

ब॒हदश्व उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bṛhadaśva

janādhipa (the king addressed)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse upholds a dharmic duty: when an innocent person is harmed through deceit, it is righteous to censure the wrongdoer and to protect the blameless, even if that response arises from moral indignation.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bṛhadaśva addresses a king, stating that the king was innocent yet was subjected to fraudulent treatment; therefore Bṛhadaśva, angered at the deceiver, reproached him and took action to safeguard the king.